Essar Oil and Gas Exploration & Production (EOGEPL) plans to invest $100 million (Rs 9.15 billion) in a new drilling initiative at its Raniganj East coalbed methane (CBM) block in the Indian state of West Bengal, it said on economic times.

EOGEPL is the upstream division of the Essar Group.

With the investment, the company aims to enhance natural gas production from this block, currently the largest CBM producing site in India.

The drilling programme, which represents the next phase of development at Raniganj East, aims to introduce pilot projects for horizontal CBM wells.

Raniganj East is believed to have approximately four trillion cubic feet of local CBM resources.

With existing infrastructure capable of handling up to three million standard cubic meters per day (mscm/d) of gas, the new investment will help expand production capacity.

In addition to CBM exploration, EOGEPL is evaluating the potential for shale gas extraction in the Raniganj area.

EOGEPL CEO Pankaj Kalra said, “To date, EOGEPL has invested over Rs 60,000 crore in the development of the Raniganj East CBM block, including the drilling of 454 wells and the construction of over 350 km of pipeline infrastructure.

“Over the last few years, the company has spent an additional 6 billion rupees to drill about 100 wells, all of which are in production.”

Technical studies conducted with IIT Bombay and the University of Utah have identified hydrocarbons and favorable geomechanical conditions favorable for shale gas development.

India’s drive to increase domestic gas production aims to reduce dependence on imports while promoting city gas networks and industrial use.

Efforts are particularly focused on coal-rich regions like Raniganj because of their established infrastructure and proximity to demand centers.

Kalra added: “The company has outlined plans to increase production to around 5 mscm/d by 2028, driven by a combination of incremental CBM drilling, improved recovery techniques and potential shale development.”

In January 2024, Essar Oil UK, a unit of Essar, associate with Elessent Clean Technologies to develop its industrial EET carbon capture facility in Stanlow, UK.

“Essar Oil & Gas to invest $100m in West Bengal CBM block” was originally created and published by Offshore technologya trademark owned by GlobalData.

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